Shou-Bo Tao, courtesy name Zhi-Fen, style names Wan-Shi-Lao-Ren, Chou-Zhong-Lao-Ren, and Wan-Shi-Ceng-Shi, was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, China, in 1902. He sat at the feet of Da-Qian Zhang, mastering seal-carving, calligraphy, landscape painting and flower painting. His one-of-a-kind plum blossom paintings were his specialty. He began to learn plum painting in 1930, when Tao copied the Wang Chao Lin Booklet and the Painting Manual of a Hundred Plum Blossoms, and he often went to plum gardens to make observations. After that, he embarked on a journey of painting plums with ink, devoting his life to the task. By the age of 39, he had already received the esteemed name of “ink plum specialist.”
In 1915, Shou-Bo Tao became a disciple of Bai-Qian Tang of Suzhou, from whom he learned inscription rubbing, calligraphy mounting, inscription carving, characters tracing and inkstone inscription. In 1922, he began to work in the newspaper industry at Shanghai, and he learned seal-carving under the guidance of the renowned seal-carving master, Shu-Ru Zhao. He then set sail on his seal-carving voyage and obtained grand achievements thereafter. With his kind and gentle personal character Tao was well respected and had students all over the country. He earned a reputation for “great magnificence of calligraphy, painting and seal-carving” in Taiwan. All his works have been compiled into an album named Calligraphies and Paintings of Shou-Bo Tao.